


Survival of the Fittest

by Dreamster_Xx



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Chapter 5 Spoilers, Fix-It, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Just two guys chilling in an exisal, Oh look, Oma Kokichi-centric, What-If, no beta we die like men, what could possibly go wrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23192581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamster_Xx/pseuds/Dreamster_Xx
Summary: Kaito refused to budge and what he says next makes him stunned. "I won't agree to your schemeunlessyou drink some." he proposed.Kokichi made a face at this. Of course the idiot decides that now was a great time to play hero. This wasn't how his plan was supposed to go, but he'll make do.He gave a small sigh, feeling the effects of the poison running through his veins. Who was he to refuse a deal like this?--o0o--Or: In which Kaito and Kokichi share the antidode to the Strike-9 Poison in Chapter 5 and are currently squished in an exisal together
Relationships: Momota Kaito & Oma Kokichi
Comments: 35
Kudos: 334





	1. LYING get's you nowhere (far)

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by Yogurt_Tea's "Dance of Masks"! It's great, go check it out!

Kokichi decided that if he really wanted to, he could kill Kaito. Of course, the other boy could easily overpower Kokichi and would definitely win in a struggle, but if Kokichi had one thing he valued in his life, it was his mind. As an astronaut, Kokichi suspected that he had to know quite a bit of things for his talent and should know at _least_ some things.

But _this_ , he thinks, is stretching it.

"What do you mean you're not the mastermind!?" Kaito said, dumbfounded.

Kokichi sighed at this, covering his bloodied arm with his other hand, trying to ignore the pain that was errupting in it. How many times did he have to go over this in order for him to understand? "I was pretending to be one, Space Idiot. Now take this and _drink_." he scoffs, holding out the antidode.

Once again, he surprised him. "Wait, you didn't drink it?"

"What do you think?" Kokichi deadpaned. He decided to get onto the next topic, a difficult one, albiet perhaps not as hard at what their future ones would be like. "I have a plan."

Kaito eyed the bottle suspiciously and didn't take it, seemingly refusing something from someone he saw as the enemy. Kokichi's eye twitched. Did he think that he was going to poison him? He was already poisoned for goodness sake! He was giving him a free pass to live and what did he do? He _doesn't take it_.

He's cut off from his internal ramblings from what Kaito has to say. "And why, after everything you've done, should I trust you!?" he demands.

Kokichi sighs once more. "Look, you want to beat Monokuma, right?"

"Um, yeah? Look, for some apparent reason, you're _not_ the mastermind, then go ahead."

Kokichi knew his face must have shown how annoyed he is, but he didn't really care. He was feeling dizzy and light-headed and just wanted to get this over with.

"How do you think Monokuma would feel if there was a class trial, but no one actually died?"

Kaito blinked at this, and then his jaw opens, gaping like a fish, appalled. His eyebrows are raised and he stops trying to attempt to pull out the arrow that was still in his arm.

"I'm sorry, we're going to do _what now_?"

Kokichi walked over to him when he saw how the other boy was trying to pull the arrow out and instead does it for him, eliciting a yelp from the bigger boy.

"We're going to pretend someone's died. Now drink this and pull these arrows out for me."

The other boy, for once, actually looks deep in thought at this, and after a minute, he sighs. "Fine. How much am I supposed to drink?"

Kokichi looked a bit downward at this, hesitating. There's shadow that plasters over his face and hides his eyes, and with his mouth pursed in a straight line, it makes the atmosphere solemn.

"All of it. Now pull this out." He looks back up and gestures to his arm, which still has an arrow at it, blatantly ignoring the other boy, despite the shock that he's radiating.

"But then you'll die!" This time Kaito actually pulls the arrow out, making Kokichi wince and blood to splatter out, landing on his already bloodied arm.

"Don't you think I already know that?" he replies. The silence that follows is uncomfortable and tense. Kaito looks at him with a strange look, a mix of astonishment, confusion, pity, and what he thinks is awe. In return, his face is as blank as stone, daring him to say something.

Kaito suddenly walks behind Kokichi. He doesn't try to do anything but stare remorsefully at him (It's genuine, for once, unlike his many other acts), not bothering to turn when he gets out of his sight. He braces himself for pain, knowing what was about to come, but still gasps when the arrow's pulled out of his back.

"I won't work with you."

Kokichi ends up turning to face him, staring at him with an indifferent look. ". . . why not?" His voice is quiet, unusual for him, but he's sure Kaito still somehow hears him. He speaks up, in a more boisterous and mocking tone (Similar to how he was before, he's sure), ashamed at what he let show. "Would you rather have Maki become the blackened?"

Kaito refused to budge and what he says next makes him stunned. "I won't agree to your scheme _unless_ you drink some." he proposed.

Kokichi made a face at this. Of course the idiot decides that now was a great time to play hero. This wasn't how his plan was supposed to go, but he'll make do.

He gave a small sigh, feeling the effects of the poison running through his veins. Who was he to refuse a deal like this?

When Kokichi didn't put up a fight and offers up the bottle, Kaito's surprise was evident on his face. "I didn't think you would agree so quickly" He confesses slowly, almost as if he couldn't believe it himself, which Kokichi didn't doubt. He rolled his eyes.

"You have to drink at least three fourths of the antidode in order for it to work properly." he instructed, choosing to ignore him for now.

He clears his throat and purposely makes sure not to look at the taller boy in the eyes, feeling somewhat resentful at what he was going to say next, but knew it was for his plan. It _needed_ to work.

"I need you to at least survive for this to work. I'll drink the other fourth, but it won't be as effective for me." he warns. His usually cheerful facade is replaced by a seriousness that he was sure unerved his soon-to-be acomplice. The implication that he might not make it was known to both.

The astronaut scowled at this (Kokichi knew he wasn't an idiot if he was to understand this, but couldn't he at least try more?), but drank his fill, leaving what he had been instructed for the shorter boy.

When he holds the bottle out, Kokichi swipes it and looks into it to see around a fourth had been left for him right before gulping it down. He's still tired and dizzy, but is sure that the antidode will kick in.

Kaito speaks up. "Maki-roll's going to return soon." Kokichi actually blinks at this, almost forgeting about her. Trying to formulate a new plan was tiring and making him stressed. When he grabs his chin, lost in thought, a new idea in mind, Kaito gives him a questioning look, but doesn't say anything about it. He smiles, an idea in mind, inspired by what the other boy had said.

"We need blood. A lot of it. And we can't exactly go out there to find some. I already activated the electrobomb, so whoever's watching can't see us, or else our plan won't work. The closest place I could think of that has blood would be Angie's Research Lab."

Kaito blinks at this, trying to process everything. "Okay, one, you still haven't told me about your plan. Two, why in the world is there _blood_ in Angie's Research Lab? She's an artist!" he says flabbergasted.

"Well, I had to make a whole new plan all thanks to you!" He childishly sticks his toungue out, opting to ignore the second part for now.

Kaito gives him a look. "You were going to _die_ in your first one!" he scowls.

Kokichi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." he waves his hand off, as if Kaito was his mother and was scolding him (It wasn't like Kokichi even had one, anyways. Kirumi was one of the closets ones he had, despite being the same age).

Kokichi ends up pointing at the hydraulic press, to which Kaito turns to face when he saw what he was pointing at.

"If Monokuma just happens to see a bunch of blood under the press and both of us are gone, what do you think will happen?"

Realization strikes up in his eyes. "He'll think someone died." he says it slowly, as if Kokichi was his teacher and any second he was going to be corrected on what he had to say.

"Yup! Besides, Angie did a buncha blood sacrifises with the Student Council." Kokichi's face scrunches up at this, remembering how he had once walked in on Angie taking everyone's blood and putting them in bags, claiming they were for Atua ("We must make Atua happy!"), the exception being Kiibo, who had been watching the proceedings, intrigued.

Kaito's face matched his and he ends up scoffing at what the supposed oracle had done. "I can't believe she actual-"

"Kaito!" A voice echos out from the bathroom. It's somewhat faint, but they both hear it just fine. They both whip around to face the bathroom's door. Kokichi internally freaks out at this and they both looked at each other, panicked. "Kaito!" the assassin calls out again.

Thinking quickly, he pulls Kaito by the arm and pushes him towards the door. When he's a few feet away, he stands beside the door, making sure that when it opens, he'll be out of Maki's sight. "Ask her for the blood bags!" Kokichi hisses, taking care to be quiet.

Kaito gulps, but nods anyways and proceeds to open the door. "Maki-roll!"

He can hear the exchange going on despite the fact he couldn't see anything. "Kaito! You're still here! Wait a minute. . ." He hears her murmur. In a quieter tone, one where he could only just barely hear her, she asks him the dreaded question. "Where's Kokichi!?"

He hopes that Kaito could lie well (That's a lie, he _knows_ he can. How else could he have hidden his sickness?) when he hears his reply. "Him? He's . . . preoccupied."

Theres a brief pause before she answers. "He's dead, isn't he."

There's another pause. "Maki-roll, you trust me, right?" Kokichi raises an eyebrow at this. Was he guilt-tripping her?

He hears an "Of course" as a response. Huh. He was.

"Can you go to Angie's Research Lab? I don't know where exactly they are, but there's going to be a bunch of bags of blood in there. Can you grab them and bring them here? Oh, and make sure to bring other stuff. I don't really care what it is as long as there's blood."

Hmm. Kokichi can't help but think to himself that if he tried more, the astronaut could be a great liar.

"I'll do it. Just. . . don't die on me, okay?" he almost snorts to himself at this, covering his face with his hand. What a great moment to say something so cheesy. But at least she was smart enough to know of his condition as well.

"Of course! But. . ." When Kaito trails off, Kokichi's posture goes straight up at this, alarmed. What was the idiot going to say?

"What is it?" It seemed as if Maki had the same thoughts.

"If anyone ever finds out about you coming here to try and kill Kokichi. . . can you not tell anyone about this? It's. . . apart of my plan." Kokichi blinks at this and almost immediately internally scolds himself for not thinking of it earlier. How did Kaito manage to come up with that before he did?

"Sure. Stay safe." And just like that, she's gone it's quiet again. He stops leaning against the wall and stands up straight, hearing a couple of bones crack. As he inspects himself, he notices that he's still bleeding from his arrow wounds, the blood sticky on his fingers.

Shaking his head, he looks around and picks up the camcorder, which he had securely hidden in the room. He hears the door open as he's setting up the camera, but doesn't really care enough to turn around.

"You've still haven't told me your plan." Kaito's voice grumbles. He's currently behind him, watching him try to find a good angle for the camera. "But I'm guessing it has something to do with the press."

"No shit, sherlock." Kokichi points out. It's true, the placement of the camera and the way it's facing the press makes it a bit obvious.

He decides to just tell him it. "I'm going to record this and you're going to go under the press. Yeah, yeah, I know," Kokichi waves off Kaito's dismayed look. "Set up your jacket so one sleeve is hanging off the edge. Oh, and make sure the hole the arrow left behind is visible."

"I can't believe I'm doing this. . ." he hears the astronaut grumble, but does as he's told. When he's lieing under the press, a bit of sweat pooling at his forehead from what was going to happen next, he reveals the next step.

"We're going to make everyone think you're the victim. I'm going to start this camera and lower the press at the same time. Whatever you do, do NOT move. We only have one chance to do this right so. . ." Kokichi trails off at this, causing Kaito to stop staring at the press that was hauntingly staring back at him and look at Kokichi to hear what he has to say. He gives a small sigh and continues.

". . . you're going to have to trust me."

He returns to staring up at the press. "Never thought I'd hear you say that." Kokichi silently agrees at this.

"I'm going to start the press." he says, noting the way Kaito braces himself and closes his eyes. He turns away and stares at the buttons in from of him, and presses the 'start' buttom on the camcorder and the one to start the press simultaneously.

As the press starts to lower and the camera starts to record, he feels a bout of nervousness, and it ends up leaving a terrible feeling in his gut, and, for a second, he's not sure if he's able to do it. (His shaking hands didn't help either). When he's unable to see Kaito's body, he stops both the camera and press.

It's quiet. But a few seconds later, there's a deep breathe being exhaled from under it and Kokichi ends up slumping down in relief, letting one out too.

"You can get out from under there now. Didja _really_ think I'd let you die like that?" he exclaims boldy in order to hide his anxiousness. His voice cracks midway and he cringes at it. He hears Kaito scoff at the provoke, but thankfully not bother to answer, instead choosing to crawl out from under the press.

There's an uncomfortable silence as they both stare at each other. Kokichi grins at the astronaut, one that's so big, it cuts into his cheek bones and hurts to keep it there. He's staring at the other boy's similar purple eyes, so bright, but also a haunting gaze that, unintentionally, showed his dreadfulness at what was about to come. Sure enough, it did.

"Was it a lie?"

He tilted his head. The grin that was previously there shrinks into a small, knowing smile. On anyone else, he was sure it would look comforting, but he's sure that on him it appears menacing and sinister.

(Somewhere, in a very small corner of his mind, he suspects that he's just too good at being bad and too bad at being good)

"You're going to have to be more specific! What _exactly_ do you have in mind?" he chortles.

Kaito's staring at him, weirdly, as if he had just said that the world had ended. Though, all in all, the world _did_ end in a shower of meteors. (But who was he to trust anything Monokuma said? Maybe that was all a lie. Or was he thinking too hard about it?)

"Everything. Was everything you did a lie?"

Kokichi stares neutrally at him, a poker face as still as stone. He's awfully good at it too, remembering a time when he beats everyone in DICE at it. He's also reminded of a time where he didn't have to lie every second of a day, a time where there was _16_ people alive, not 7. And, as time goes on, he doesn't know if it'll turn to 6, or 5. For the worst case scenario, it might even turn to 0.

It bothered Kokichi _a lot_ , not being able to predict what was going to happen, but he'll manage.

Somehow.

"What do _you_ think? You can't believe everything I say. I _am_ a liar, believe it or not." he recites it as if it was line that he had perfected in a play, one of those famous ones where everyone would stand up and applause at.

Kaito rolled his eyes, but doesn't say anything, instead staring at him. He's actually startled by what he asked next.

"Why do you keep lieing?"

Kokichi pursed his lips, staring at the other boy with an indifferent look, eyes showing nothing but curiosity. "Why not?" It's the easiest question he could think of while observing the other boy's actions.

Kaito doesn't look phased at his dismissiveness, for once, to which he's slightly annoyed and frustrated at.

"Is it to make yourself seem evil?"

Kokichi raises an eyebrow at his accuracy and smiles, somehow feeling his heart drop at how close he is, yet so, _so_ far. He ends up smiling wider at the thought of it, ignoring how the smile it cuts into his cheekbones (He ended up perfecting the look in his bathroom, watching himself smile late in the night when he should have been sleeping. It resulted in dark, dark bags, aching cheeks, and a great mask. He wonders how no one's noticed yet).

At that very moment, he decided to teach Kaito a lesson in lies, purposely starting off in what seemed to be a different topic in order to infuriate the boy.

"Unlike what you think, I'm not the only liar here." The silence he gets makes him resume. "In case you haven't noticed, my lies are obvious, but for others, theres might not be. _Everyone_ here, whether they think so or not, is a liar.

He sees the way that Kaito's fists are clenched, but doesn't do anything.

"Image, for instance, somebody tells a girl that their dress is beautiful, but in reality, it's hideous, wouldn't that be a lie? But what if they really think it _is_ beautiful? Does that make them a liar?" He tilts his head. "Does that make them _evil_? What if somebody happens to tell someone the truth, but not all of it? Would that be a lie?"

There's another shadow covering his face, and with the small smile on it, Kokichi is sure it looks menacing. "Does that make _me_ evil?"

Kaito looks done with him, the beginnings of a scowl on his face. "Just tell me. In the beginning. Did you _really_ think the killing game was fun?"

At those words, he can feel the disgust building up in him, and he knows the resent on his face is visible and looking so _genuine_ , so he somehow (But not really) ends up surprising himself with his answer.

_"How could a game you're forced to play be fun?"_

He stops talking after that and refused to look at the other boy, much less talk, to the other's dissatisfaction. Kaito eventually gives up trying to weasel answers from him and there's a dreadful and awkward silence blanketing the atmosphere, and somehow, it almost feels _despairful_ (He wonders to himself why out of all the words, it had to be this one. He can't help but just think that it felt right).

The footsteps that are heard are almost silent, being small _thuds_. Then it's quiet, but as it gradually becomes closer and increasingly louder, it reminds him of the Grim Reaper, silently but slowly awaiting them for their soon to be deaths.

When a "Kaito!" echos out from the bathroom, he doesn't bother to follow the other boy and eavesdrop. Instead, he justs sits behind the camcorder and fiddles with it, waiting, his throat sore and a heavy feeling suffucating him.

He tries to think of another subject and ends up thinking about what they have to do, and _god_ , (He briefly thinks about Angie and almost smiles before remembering the bright, bright pink surrounding her still form, along with the statues hauntingly hanging upside down, and it drops) there's a lot of work. Doubt bubbles in his gut and and the questions overcomes his thoughts, not much of a relief from they had just talked about.

What if one of them died before the trial?

What if somehow Monokuma found out what they were doing? Heck, he might have _already know_. Just because he activated the electrobomb didn't mean that the mastermind didn't know.

What if they just _can't do it_?

He wonders what will happen when everyone comes and sees all the blood, but no body discoverment anouncement like he planned. Maybe Monokuma would appear and he'll laugh at them for trying to trick him. He thinks about how they'll _fail_ , how there's not a chance it'll work, how they'll both be dieing for noth-

"So what do we need to do now, sidekick?"

He's so startled that he almost jumps. Kaito's eyebrow is raised when Kokichi whirls around to face him. His shoulders sag in relief when he sees it's only him. He tries to calm his racing thoughts by looking at what the astronaut had.

There's three bags that he could see through which are filled with blood in his arms. A large, woven bag in bright colors that clashes with each other is next to each to the bathroom door. It's hideous and he briefly wonders where Maki had found it before he remembers what the astronaut just called him.

"Did you just call me your _sidekick_?!"

There's a smirk on Kaito's face and the glee is apparent in his voice. "Of course! We're partners in crime now, aren't we?"

"Uh, no way! Why would I want to join a group with _you_ in it?"

(It's almost as if their previous conversation had disappeared and the tense silence that was there was gone. Kokichi's glad for this and doesn't bother trying to bring it back)

Kaito sulked. "Why wouldn't you want to join it!?"

"Maybe because for every person you name your 'sidekick', you see them as troubled and try to keep encouraging them to have faith in themselves and others?"

The other boy pouted at this, but didn't deny it.

Rolling his eyes, Kokichi walked over to look inside the hideous bag (his back hurts like hell, but he _needs_ to make sure everything is perfect) and lo and behold, there's a pile of bandages on top of what appeared to be three more blood bags, enough for a body. Interestingly enough, there was also a dagger inside it, which Kokichi assumed she got it from her lab.

He holds the bandages up and gives Kaito a questioning look, to which he answers.

"Maki-roll put those there since she wanted me to bandage my arm up." Of course, how could he forget the idiot got shot too?

He furrowed his eyebrows in thought for what they had to do next. "Hey, Space I-"

He's cut off by some coughing from the taller boy, and his face is as blank as stone when he sees the blood spurting out the other boy's mouth and landing on his arm. He doesn't blink when it splatters of his white (it's pink, now) shirt. It takes a few minutes for it to stop, to which they both say nothing.

Kokichi briefly thought about how they both looked. With his blood-stained uniform and pink trailing out of Kaito's mouth, he had no doubt they both looked like a mess. He'd suddenly gotten another idea.

"You know, before we put those on, we could make it look like a body was dragged." Kaito gives him a questioning look and he rolls his eyes, clarifying the answer. "Everyone's going to think someone died, right? We might as well make it look the effort. Now, drag me to the press." 

He raises his arms and the astronaut gives him a strange look. "You know, I shouldn't even be surprised anymore by all the strange things you've made me done. . ."

Within a couple minutes, Kaito has dragged him from the bathroom over to the press, a bloody trail being left behind.

"Hey now you can actually say you've hid a body for once!" he chirps up when they're almost at the press, ignoring how the dragging made the ground scrape at his back.

The taller boy rolls his eyes once more, grunting with the effort of dragging him. "Why would I want to say that!?"

When they finish, he looks at the scene and he's reminded of how much blood he's lost (He's starting to feel light-headed again).

"Hey, bandage me up now." Kaito says, facing away from him and looking through the (hideous) rainbow bag of supplies, pulling out the bandages.

"At least help me too!" he exclaims as well, as much as his pride didn't want him too. Together, they both bandaged the other up, Kokichi covering Kaito's and him doing his arm and back. He could feel the blood seeping through them in his back, but he didn't really care, despite the risk of an infection (He was just dragged on the ground, he's be surprised if he _didn't_ get an infection).

After the process, he puts his arms over his head, feeling satisfied at the way they crack, also gaining Kaito's attention.

"Let's make a body!"

The astronaut rolled his eyes at the cheerfulness of the morbid statement. "Are we just going to put the blood under the press?"

Kokichi made a noise of agreement, indicating how he was spot on. "Yup! Well, I'm not. You are!"

Kaito rolled his eyes again, but obliged, placing them in the press (He also puts the bag the stuff was brought in there as well. It was a good way to hide evidence, after all), and when it's not visible in the camera, Kokichi put a thumbs up.

When the other boy is by his side once more, Kokichi unpaused the camcorder and the press once more, giving a silent wince at the _SPLAT_ that echos around the room. He made sure to pause the camcorder after it with great care, letting out a small breathe he didn't realize he was holding. That was when he finally decided to look around and he feels his stomach drop.

The aftermath was _hideous_ and made him feel queasy. It looked _real_ , the bright pink blood contrasting and painting the darkly colored room. Kaito's sleeve jacket was poking out, blood staining the very edges. He felt himself pale a bit, and saw Kaito out of the corner of his eyes, grimacing with his face a shade of light green.

If he didn't know better, he would have thought someone had died, but he _did_ know better. He still felt sick. In a small part of his mind, he thought about how it should have been _him_ there before quickly pushing the toxic thought out of his mind before it grew.

Kokichi decided at that very moment to initiate the next part of his plan. So, after yanking off his scarf, he starts to unbutton and take his shirt off.

Kaito looks perplexed at the very action that he was doing. "Um!? What in the world are you do- Ack!" He smirked at the way how the bundled shirt hits his face, his bare chest visible for the taller boy to see.

A giggle escaped his throat, sounding very carefree and not as someone who had almost (and might still be, if the antidode didn't work all the way) died. He threw his scarf at him as well, watching it flutter towards him.

"Nishishish~" The astronaut looked unamused. "What. The. Fuck. Why did you just take your shirt off?"

"It's evidence! Now, go flush it down the toilet." Here, Kaito gives him a strange look. "Why?"

He smiles, but doesn't give an answer. The other boy rolls his eyes, but went to do the task, walking with his back to him, causing the smile to fall and be replaced with a determined and focused look.

Turning to the woven bag, Kokichi looked in it and grabbed the dagger in it. He walked (limped, really. His back hurted like _hell_ ) towards the press, eyeing the power cord that was attached the press. He started sawing it with the dagger. It took a three or four minutes until he finished cutting all the way, which during that time Kaito had returned and quietly watched.

"So" the astronaut said when he finished. "What now?"

Kokichi let out an exaggerated sigh. "Now, we hide." After dropping the dagger near the torn power cord, and with no other explanation, he started walking (limping, again) towards the exisal, his goal obvious to the only other person around.

When they're both in front of it, he brings a hand to his chin and wonders. He was in no condition to be climbing it himself. Suddenly, feeling a burst of inspiration, a wide grin lit up his face. He swore he saw Kaito shiver in anticipation at his face in the corner of his eyes (Scratch that, he definitely did).

Out of nowhere, he jumped on the other boy's back, surprising him and eliciting a yelp from him. He let out a "Nishishish~!" at this, a smirk residing on his lips.

"What are you doing!?" Kaito freaked out, barely managing to hold on to him, lest he fell down. Kokichi was glad he did, not feeling like getting a concussion added to his list of injuries.

He rolled his eyes at how appalled he was. What did it look like he was doing? "You're going to carry me up there! Now, giddy up, Minion!"

He felt how indigant Kaito was at the nickname, but only heard a huff in reply. He was then surprised when the other boy adjusted him so that he was on his back, piggyback style, and actually started climbing up the exisal.

They ended arguing with each other while the taller boy scaled the exisal.

("Jeez, you're so light. How many pounds are you?"

"Hey, my weight is perfectly normal for a 17 year old! You, however, are fat."

"You're 17!? You look 12! And I'm not fat! Astronauts have to train everyday!"

"Whatever you say, fatso.")

He let out an "oof!" when the other boy unexpectedly dropped him into the exisal's cockpit, a pout leaving his lips. He frowned at the limited space and at how cold it was against his bare skin, swearing to himself that it used to be larger before somehow. Kaito gave a sigh as he sat there with him after closing the exisal's cover, almost squishing Kokichi half to death in the process (It made his arm hurt, but who was he to point that out?).

After a brief struggle, it resulted with one of his legs draped over Kaito's and an elbow in his chest, to which he gives a huff at.

Spotting the 'mute' button for the microphone on the dashboard, he took great care to press it to avoid being overheard before turning to the other boy and giving the next step of his plan away. He put his arms around his head (he barely managed to do it, the action being odd since he was still shirtless) and let out a blinding smile (one that really didn't match the circumstances).

"We're gonna go to the courtyard now!"

He decided to start with experimenting with the controls in order to figure out how to move the exisal. He saw how Kaito doesn't bother to help him, instead opting to watch, which Kokichi was glad for. He tried to ignore the cold walls of the exisal surrounding them, attempting to hide his small shivers.

It seemed as if his efforts were in vain, however, when he heard the other boy sigh and start messing with the buttons on his long-sleeved dress shirt. Within a minute, a shirt was thrown at his head, to wish he's ashamed of letting out a small shriek. A small chuckle followed it from the astronaut, to which Kokichi pouted at, making him snicker even more.

When Kaito saw him holding the shirt, he rolled his eyes. "Aren't you going to wear it? I'm tired of seeing your ribs." There's a scowl in return when Kokichi felt a poke at his chest.

He huffed, beginning to button the shirt on over himelf, finding the easy task hard with their limited space.

"I'll have you know that I do 100 pushups a day! Then, every other day, I do 200 sit ups!" he falsely boasted, feeling smug at the obvious skeptic on the other boy's face. He'd finished buttoning the shirt, feeling a little embarrased at how long the sleeves were and how they covered his hands.

Kokichi began moving the exisal and then there was a silence which then followed. For once, it was comfortable instead of tense, which he felt relaxed at. When they arrived at the courtyard, he decided to lay back and watch the stars shining brightly in the night sky, a sight he felt calm at. He saw Kaito copy him as well.

No matter how pretty the stars looked, he couldn't let his mind wander. How in the world were they going to survive in the trial? It was going to be him against everyone, even his beloved Shuichi, who unlike everyone else, actually gave him a chance. He gave a small, solemn smile at this to himself, not caring if the astronaut just happened to see it for once.

He ended up stargazing for a while, looking at the bright, white dots (even if they might've been fake), but noticed how quiet it was in the exisal. And boring. He decided to ask a question to Kaito, who was currently pretending to sleep next to him, knowing it would get a reaction out of him.

"Who do you think's going die first?"

Predictably, one of Kaito's eyes open and stares at him, unamused.

"Don't say that." There's an anger in his voice that's slowly rising.

Kokichi shrugged. "Maybe neither of us would die!" he exclaimed.

It's unspoken to the both of them of what was most likely going to be the inevitable. He pondered to himself for a second about how everything they did would be tied up in a big bow, somewhat like a present, but would eventually become unwrapped and torn with the upcoming class trial that was going to follow the next morning.

(Or maybe afternoon? It might take awhile for them to figure out what had happened, possibly a day or too. He hoped they wouldn't have to stay in the exisal for that long)

They stopped talking after that, and, somehow, he drifts off into a light sleep, his head leaning against Kaito's shoulder. He dreams (or is it a nightmare? Nevermind, he's too tired to think about it) about an "Upupupu!" and a rocketship shooting off into space, a red _ERROR_ appearing and bright pink covering its only window, the stars shining brightly around it, not fitting the circumstances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this took a lot longer than expected. Critization is appreciated and expect another chapter within this month :)


	2. TRUST is a Two Way Street

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We're both just going to jump out after the voting, right?"
> 
> Kokichi hummed, listening to Shuichi and Maki argue about them. "That's just about it."
> 
> "But what if we don't?" Kokichi stops staring at the screen that allowed them to see outside of the exisal, and instead slowly turns towards the astronaut, an eyebrow raised and eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
> 
> "I should phrase it better. What if I only get out? Cause, you know, everyone would think I'm the culprit." Kaito proposes.
> 
> The curious look on Kokichi's face quickly becomes a blank slate, and his voice monotone. "And why would you do that?" 
> 
> His next words makes Kokichi's world spin.
> 
> "Wouldn't it be better if I get executed?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, but while writing this I just realized that they're both in an exisal for hours and they don't need to use the bathroom (oh well... *laughs nervously*)
> 
> Oh, you might also want to reread the previous chapter, since I did a ton of edits to it, so there's that :D

The next morning, from what he could tell by the brilliant sunset outside, Kokichi was awakened by harsh coughing. Opening his eyes, he saw that Kaito was faced away from himself and towards one of the metal wall's of the exisal that surrounded them, which was currently the same color as the dashboard from his last episode.

Kokichi tried to silently sit up when the other boy finished as to not alert him that he was awake, but failed and winced when his back cracked from sitting for so long, getting the astronaut's attention.

The small confinement reeked of iron, and wasn't a pleasant thing to wake up to, causing him to wrinkle his nose up in disgust.

When Kaito turned towards him, Kokichi decided to resume the previous night's conversation as if to change the topic, even though they both hadn't spoken yet.

"So, who do you think's gonna die first?" he couldn't help himself really, after watching him cough. "You know what, better yet, how much time do _you_ think you have?"

The taller boy huffed, wiping off the blood from his face, instead leaving it smeared.

"There's no way I'm going to die here. I'm Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars!"

"Right. Like how I'm not going to die any second now from your girlfriend poisoning me."

"Maki-roll's not my girlfriend!"

"Whatever you say, _Luminary of the Stars_."

There's a silence after that and Kokichi decides he just wants to get everything over with and chose now to be a good time to talk about the inevitable.

"Who do you think the mastermind is?"

Kaito was faced towards the window of the exisal, avoiding his gaze and instead watching the sunrise. Koichi couldn't blame him, as it was a breathtaking sight, but the pink that blended in with orange and yellow reminded him a little bit too much of the blood that was still on the taller boy's hands.

"I don't know.

Kokichi rolled his eyes. "You don't know, or you don't _want_ to know?" he pesters, getting closer to the other boy despite their (very) limited space, his eyes developing a sharpness that matched his wit.

The other boy looked uncomfortable at the interrogation. "I don't know."

The shorter boy wasn't that surprised, finding this predictable, even though he half expected him to deny it wasn't anyone there. After everything, Kokichi guessed it was better not to get your hope up. The truth was always uglier than a lie, he supposed.

He sighed. "Well, if you aren't going to say who you think it is, I might as well. I, personally, think it's Kiibo."

Kaito scrunched his eyes. "Kiibo? I mean, I _guess_ I know where you're going with this."

Kokichi raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh really? Do explain, please." He wanted to hear what the other boy thought, even if it wasn't going to be much. DICE always said it was better to have two minds than one, even though they usually said ten due to the size of the group, and how independent he was.

"Well, he's the Ultimate Robot right? Maybe someone's. . . watching though him?"

Kokichi made a noise of agreement, choosing to speak up since the other boy understood where he was getting at.

"More as if someone was controlling him. Have you ever thought how strange it was for a robot to be apart of a project to help remake humanity?"

Kaito blinked at this. "Well, when you say it like that, then yes." he then narrowed his eyes. "Wait, why? Do you think he actually has something to do with the mastermind?"

"Yup! But think of it this way: The mastermind is someone apart of the Gofer project, right? But didn't the mastermind supposedly hijack there way here?" Kokichi's voice raised. "Why would there be a robot apart of this project anyways? It means that they originally didn't mess with the project, so _why_ is there someone who can't reproduce here?" The supreme leader raised his hands, agitated. "It makes no sense!"

The astronaut looked perplexed and a bit taken aback by his outburst, so he quickly calmed down and made his face blank, not yet at the part of where he was _truly_ curious yet.

"It make's no sense, _right_?" his lips curved into a small smirk, awaiting for the other boy's reaction. "There's also 15 humans here. We would need hundreds in order to remake the human population anyways, due to the genetic diversity. It's doomed to fail." he gives a small sigh.

"Do you remember where exactly we got this information?" he asks, to which Kaito frowned at. ". . . We got them from the flashback lights."

Kokichi grinned. "Exactly. Now, why would they give us this information if it doesn't make sense?"

When he vocalized the words he'd been thinking for days, Kaito's eyes widened with shock and his mouth was left open, concluding to the same conclusion that almost left Kokichi to pulling his hair out when he did. ". . . because they aren't true?"

"Ding ding ding! Guess who got it right~"

"B-But. . . There's no way it's true! It c-can't be!" Oh boy, now he was in denial. This was going to take awhile.

Rolling his eyes, he spoke. "Now why exactly would I lie about this? You know, maybe no one should have trusted the flashback lights in the first place."

It was true. He'd doubted them ever since Monokuma had been waiting for them to find it. They were from Monokuma, why would they even trust them!? Maybe it was his paranoia speaking, but he sure as hell didn't.

"Then who exactly do you propose who the mastermind is?" he stated, bringing them back to the reason of what they were speaking about. "Ya know, it might not even be Kiibo! It could of been _Maki._ She's been hiding she was an assassin after all, who knows?"

He sincerely doubted it was her, but still said it to anger the other boy. Why would the mastermind lie about their talent _and_ their role in the killing game? They could've maybe _locked_ her talent lab so that he couldn't go snooping around in there (he could've probably just pick the lock, of course, but there would have been a good chance Monokuma would have made a rule about that anyways).

"It's not Maki! There's no way." Kaito insisted. "She's not the mastermind! I trust her enough to tell me the truth!"

He _trusts_ her enough to tell him the _truth_? It truly bothered him how gullible the astronaut was, but also how blantantly he trusted them. It reminded Kokichi of the second trial, when he said he believed in the assassin when no one else.

(Besides Shuichi and him, although he was certain the detective was neutral at the subject. He had began to suspect Kirumi at this point, and it wasn't like he was going to say that out loud either. He had a reputation to keep up)

He couldn't help but remind himself of something he said before during a trial, one where his words rang true and clear (. . . at least to him).

_"You guys talk about **cooperation** and **teamwork** , but you're all afraid!" Heads had turned towards him in a wide variation of emotions. Predictably, the most obvious was shock, but he also saw a few flashes of anger, and some interest from a certain anthropologist. He continued on. "You're all too scared to point your fingers at each other, so you hide behind the word, **'trust'**." _

But this? This was exactly again _everything_ in which he had originally believed. . . and not for the first time, he's reminded that he could've been the same way as the taller boy, if only he didn't keep everyone away with a ten foot long stick. . .

Or maybe it was his harsh upbringing, how when he was younger, he'd been cruelly tricked by the other orphans and laughed at, with no one around to stop it. DICE helped stopped the distrust enough, but with them gone, who was to stop him? 

Kokichi stared at the astronaut, indifferent. "You trust others so carelessly. Why?"

Kaito just gave him a knowing smile, reflected back from the countless times he gave one to the astronaut, and it infuriates him, being on this side of the argument for once.

-o0o-

Kokichi's not sure how, but somehow they end up talking about Kaito's goatee when the body discovery anouncement comes.

"Look man, my goatee is awesome! And at least I can grow on."

Kokichi scoffed, making a face. "Why would I even want one." he deadpanned. "It makes you look-"

He doesn't get a chance to finish insulting him when he ends up getting cut off by Monokuma's shrill voice, ringing out as clear as day in the empty courtyard from nowhere Kokichi could see.

"Ding Dong Ding Dong! A body has been discovered! Following a brief period of investigation, we will commence our school trial!"

They both sat straight up at this despite the metal walls surrounding them. Kokichi ignored how the other boy's arm was in his face and instead chose to smirk at their accomplishment, a strange feeling of giddyness building up in him.

"Guess they found our body. Now, we wait for Monokuma."

Kaito turned to look at him, eyebrows furrowed and a curious look in his eyes. "We aren't going to the body with everyone else?"

Kokichi shook his head. Doing so would be a risk and unnecessary. "We can't do that, we might get interrogated and everyone might be too distracted and not find all of the evidence that we left behind."

The astronaut frowned, leaning back a bit, to which Kokichi then followed. "How are we going to the courtroom anyways? I'm not even sure if we're going to fit in the elevator. . ." he then gestured to the metal confinement they were in, barely even having any room too.

"Nishishish~ That's where Monokuma comes in~"

Kaito frowned even more. "I feel like I should be scared now."

Kokichi didn't even bother giving him a reply, instead lifting a finger to his mouth, a smile on his lips. When he saw that the other boy was looking, he quickly pressed on the button that'll allow the exisal to speak with his voice (he wanted to make sure in case Kaito spoke at all) and unmuted it as well.

_"Heyyy, Monokumaaa!!! Where are you~"_

Kaito gave a small sigh, but didn't speak at all, waiting for the robotic bear to show up. When he didn't show up right away, Kokichi started examining his fingernails, the only sign of his anxiousness. The astronaut himself was drumming his fingers on the dashboard, a welcome distraction instead of the silence.

During this, Kokichi couldn't help but worry. What if he forgot something? One little mistake could cause his whole plan to fail, bringing everything they had worked for in vain. He gave a small scowl to himself, which Kaito eyed him warily for, but didn't say anything, which Kokichi was glad for.

It felt like hours when Monokuma did show up (even if it was probably at most minutes).

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

Kokichi relaxed when he heard his voice, as opposed to how Kaito tensed. Half of the battle was showing up, after all.

He flipped the switch to turn the mic on, ignoring how the other boy peered over his shoulder, and tilted the head of the exisal downwards to face the much smaller robot, making a somewhat comical scene to those that happened to be witnessing the scene.

_"Hmm, as far as I can tell, all that's here is little ol' me~"_ Kokichi's voice rings out, loud and clear, a teasing note to it.

He sees out of the corner of his eye how Kaito had stopped tensing up, but still doesn't bother to move, lest he accidentally made any noise, which Kokichi was thankful for once more (not that he'd ever admit it, of course).

"Oh? Well, if you say so. . ." Monokuma trails off, a hand to his metal chin, stroking it as if he were thinking, his red eye shining dangerously and his sharp grin vicious.

Oh, did he think Kaito was in here? Well, it would probably be best to make him doubt himself. . .

_"Nishishish~ I'm not sure what exactly you're thinking. . . But it would be best for you to tell the class!"_ He moves the controller for the exisal's left arm so that it gestures to the empty courtyard, not a breathing soul left in sight.

_"After all, the audience is waiting~"_ he says, his tone all but knowing, enjoying the fake bead of sweat that somehow goes down the robot's metal head. He notices Kaito's confusion and reminds himself to tell the other boy of his theory for later.

"W-Well, we have better things to talk about!" Monokuma hurriedly says, his arms waving. "Like you getting out of that exisal mister!"

He smirks at the change of topic, noting the way how the taller boy is somewhat surprised about how he wasn't showing a tint of worry, but on the contrary, delight. This was his domain after all.

_"But the trial would be so boringggg."_ he lets himself stretch out the word. _"I'd get voted right away! Or even worse, little miss assassin would kill me in the courtroom! I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want any blood in there!"_ he smirks. _"And what would everyone think of a murder where everyone know's culprit? That wouldn't be any fun at all!"_

He knows he hits the target when he sees the way Monokuma perks up. In order to finally make sure to convince the bear, he presses another button of the dashboard.

_"Besides, there's no way I'd let myself, Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, get executed!"_ Kaito's voice echos around the courtyard, elicitating a glare from the teenage himself, which Kokichi shrugs off.

Monokuma guffawed. "Well, if you're going to act like that, then who am I to say no?" he says gleefully. "Now, come to the courtroom before everyone else. Times a choppin'!" The bear starts to waddle off towards the elevator, so Kokichi clicks off the microphone, a sigh leaving his mouth in the process.

"So" Kaito begins, and Kokichi would have jolted in surprise if it weren't for the fact they were both squished together so closely that he could have felt the other boy's heartbeat. "We just follow him?"

Kokichi makes a noise of agreement. "Pretty much." he has nothing more to say, so he moves the joystick that'll move the exisal, and it walks over to the elevator, which had already opened, waiting for them both.

Right as he's about to make the exisal duck it's head so that it's able to go inside the elevator, Kaito's hand suddenly reaches out and latches on top of his, making him tense up and eye the other boy and raise an eyebrow expectantly. 

"If you're going to be talking, at least let me move the exisal" the taller boy explains, his look daring him to say no. Kokichi sighs, seeing no reason for him to (besides how he might ruin everyone, a little voice in his head says). He probably felt restless watching him do all of the work.

"Fine, but you better not do anything that'll expose us." he says boredly, looking at his fingernails, watching the other boy light up and grin. 

"Aw, thanks sidekick!" At this, Kokichi rolls his eyes, not bothering to refute the nickname, and Kaito adjusts the exisal so that it ducks and goes inside the elevator, which then closes and lowers them underground. 

It's odd being the only occupants inside the elevator, so there's a small silence as they wait until the elevator opens. As the first student (Students, technically, but it's not as Monokuma knew) arriving, they come face to face with an empty trials ground and Monokuma lying lazingly on his throne.

"Upupupup! I was wondering when you'd ever show up!"

Kokichi leans towards the microphone while Kaito backs away. He unclicks it, and speaks with such a giddyness that he's somewhat surprised himself.

_"Nishishish~ I wouldn't miss this for the world!"_ he teases.

Suddenly, he drops the casualness and speaks with a seriousness and cautioness that few gets to see. _"Now, what exactly will happen when they come?"_ he says, refering to everyone else (He's suddenly reminded of Shuichi. It had been awhile since he last thought of the detective). _"Will I be waiting for everyone at my podium or am I going to show up when they question you?"_

"Well, I'm glad you asked!" Monokuma exaggerates. As if it was cued, a metal door that was originally hidden by a curtain opened up, revealing total darkness inside it. "You'll be waiting there. I happened to have this here just incase! Now, chop-chop!"

Kokichi eyed it suspiciously, having no doubt the other boy was doing the same. There was very little chance Monokuma did anything to it, due to the time, but it would be no good to reject the bear. For now, he would have to go in it.

_"Alrighty then, if you insist~"_ he says, causing Kaito to frown at him. Still frowning, the other boy controlled the exisal to go inside the dark room, which immediately closes on them. He turned it so that when it would open back up, the exisal would be facing the entrance. Last, Kokichi very visibly unclicked the microphone, allowing them both to speak.

Kaito broke the silence. "How were you so sure that it would work?" he blurts out, breaking the silence, the question seemingly on his mind for awhile.

"You're going to have to be more specific~" Kokichi replies lightly, because there were a _lot_ of things he was both sure (and unsure) would work.

"How were you that this wasn't a trap." he gestures to the dark room they were currently in. "Better yet, how did you know that Monokuma would let us go down here with the exisal? And stop with the act." he scowls bitterly, not noticing the way Kokichi's eyebrows raise at the last remark.

Kokichi turned away and sighed, knowing it was time to explain. "You know how I told Monokuma that 'the audience is waiting' when I was trying to convince him to let us stay in here?" he prompts, not bothering to look at the other boy and instead at his fingernails.

Kaito frowns. "Vaguely." he confesses.

"Tell me this. Why would Monokuma follow the rules so strictly?" Kokichi leans in the other boy's face.

"Um." he frowns even more. "I don't know?"

Kokichi rolled his eyes. "It's cause someone is watching, dumbass." he insults the taller boy, noting the way he scrunches his eyebrows and looks confused.

"Isn't everybody dead?"

Kokichi sighed again. "Do you not remember what I told you before?" he starts to sniffle up, ready to unleash his tears despite the circumstances, and the astronaut groans. "Please don't."

He gives a smirk. "If you insist~" But then his face hardens, the carefree exlression gone as quick as a flash, and speaks, returning to their previous topic. "Besides, the flashback lights are _fake_ , Space-Idiot."

"Wait," Kaito blinks, and pauses, taking the information in. "There's people watching us!?!?" he exclaims in disbelief.

"Duh. What do you think I've been trying to tell you?"

"Um, wow. Wait- there's people watching us, but they haven't been helping us get out!?" he screeches, causing Kokichi to blanch due to being right next to him.

He sighed, grumbling and glaring at the other boy, covering the ear that he had screeched in. "No shit. _That's_ what I've been trying to find out."

Kaito sat back, not bothering to lean forward anymore, which Kokichi did a few seconds later. He had a thoughtful look on his face, for once.

"How long have you been thinking" he gestures around again, "about all of this? I mean, it can't exactly be healthy. . . or at least emotionally. . ." he trails off, not knowing what to say.

Meanwhile Kokichi's face contorted into a simple, blank slate. But then it disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and he grinned, knowing what exactly to respond.

"But it's toooootally healthy! Just hit the rest button on your feelings and you'll feel happy and cheerful in no time!" he quotes, remembering when he told that to a certain detective and his startled reaction.

Kaito had jolted from surprise, but Kokichi wasn't paying attention anymore. The moment Kokichi said those words, he internally frowned to himself, wondering why he couldn't lie to himself when he did it so often.

So what if he was able to turn his emotions off? It was something to be proud of ( ~~. . . right?~~ ). Emotions could be as easily controlled as body parts.

Smiling? Make his eyes brighten and lift the corners of his mouth. Always watch for the wrinkles in the corner of his eyes.

Laughing? Take a deep breathe and widen his mouth into a grin, exhaling so that the air leaves his throat. Purposely make himself giggle, making a high-pitched laugh.

Smirking? Only lift the tips of his mouth a little, along with narrowing his eyes, giving off a haughty look.

Crying? Scrunch his eyes tightly enough to feel a wetness coming out, and then begin to bawl.

The lightness in his tone came from years of experience as well, and a raised eyebrow here and there to indicate he was somewhat surprised, but not fully. Sure, Kokichi knows there's something wrong with him, but this was the first time somebody had pointed it out.

". . . Hey, Kokichi?" he blinked, then realizing that Kaito had been calling his name and waving his hand in front of his face in order to get his attention. "Oh, you're back."

He tilted his head slightly, and lifted the corners of his mouth, narrowing his eyes as well, the look acquired several years ago from looking in a bathroom mirror for weeks.

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" he chortled, avoiding the question smoothly, not liking the soreness in his throat. In return, the astronaut gave him a warily glance. He stared intensely at the other boy's eyes, daring him to ask him what was wrong, which unfortunately the other boy took as a challenge.

"You don't se-"

Kokichi wasn't sure if he felt glad or not by the rumbling of the elevator, signalling the rest of the student's arrival to the trial. Kaito gave him another wary look, but Kokichi ignored it completely, instead facing away and staring straight ahead at the darkness that came from the room, his hands ready and resting on the controls, awaiting for the doors would open, even though he was sure it wouldn't for awhile.

"I have an idea." It seemed as if he wouldn't take silence as a no.

"Wow! For once!?" he snapped.

"Here me out" the taller boy raised his hands in surrender. "Let me use the exisal first."

"And why would I let you do _that_ and ruin all of my hard work!?" Instead of him sulking, or even looking hurt at his harsh words, the next thing he said almost made him jolt in surprise at the unexpectedness.

"Do you trust me?" There was that stupid word again.

He turned and faced him, letting his gaze stare analytically at the taller boy intensely, who for once returned it. 

Kokichi didn't bother replying, instead just letting his hands slack, and let go of the controls, leaving them on his lap, and turned away from the astronaut and sighed. He didn't want to bother fighting this battle.

Positioning himself to a comfier position, his hands brushed the side of his pockets, to which he felt something he had forgotten about. Taking it out, he didn't care that the taller boy had looked as well, taking in the view of the red book in his hands.

"What's that?" Not for the first time, he stared blankly at the other boy, his words replaying in his head.

_"Do you trust me?"_

"It's a book. . . filled with quotes by me." Kaito raises an eyebrow, but doesn't respond. "This was for when I was going to- when I was _supposed_ to die." He quickly shoves it at the astronaut, quickly looking away once more. "Just in case."

He just wanted to put an end to this killing game. Nobody ever said anything about the sacrifises that went with it.

There's no chance for the taller boy to reply because the rumbling of the elevator stops, indicating everyone was here. Not for the first time, they're both silent when they hear Monokuma explaining the rules for the trials, with Kaito scoffing at it and Kokichi rolling his eyes, but he's glad at the predictableness of the bear.

When the first thing everyone talks about Kokichi killing Kaito, with the exception of Shuichi, who tried to make them think about it first, Kokichi relaxes and leans backwards, not ignoring how the other boy was basically leaning out of his seat.

It's odd not being able to see them and listening to their voices, but also nice at how different their voices and how they contrasted with each other enough so that he could determine which person spoke.

"But Kokichi can't be the victim, there's no evidence for it" Maki's stern voice rings out, to which he hears Shuichi's feminine voice counters, bringing up how Kokichi's uniform was flushed down the toilet. 

"Don't you think that's a bad idea now?" Kaito grumbles, speaking up, his arms crossed. The book was nowhere in sight, but Kokichi doesn't bother to think about where it could've been, and instead smirks.

"Nope!~"

Suddenly, a sharp voice is heard, and they both turn towards it.

"So the fact that we found an empty sleeve should-"

_"Shall I kill that logic?"_ They both winced on Shuichi's behalf.

"Huh?" Shuichi sounded startled.

"You're dumber than I thought if I have to go out of my way to explain this to you." Maki says. "If you can't see that, then be quiet. Otherwise, you're just bothering me."

Wow. Harsh. He carefully looks at Kaito out of the corner of his eye, noticing that he was giving a sad look towards them (Or at least what he believed they were. After all, the only thing they saw was darkness), and the reason they were arguing for, his 'death'.

"He never puts his arms through the sleeve!" Shuichi points out, which Kaito beams at this.

"My sidekicks totally know me." he bragged, to which Kokichi raises an eyebrow.

"But that's so creepyyy. Why would they even know which arm you put in your sleeve jacket? It's almost as if they're obsessed with you!" he puts his hands to his mouth and gives him a judging look, feeling satisfied at how the other boy immediately sulks.

"It's not creepy." he grumbles before moving onto a much more serious topic.

"We're both just going to jump out after the voting, right?"

Kokichi hummed, listening to Shuichi and Maki argue about them. "That's just about it."

"But what if we don't?" Kokichi stops staring at the screen that allowed them to see outside of the exisal, and instead slowly turns towards the astronaut, an eyebrow raised and eyes narrowed. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"I should phrase it better. What if I only get out? Cause, you know, everyone would think I'm the culprit." Kaito proposes.

The curious look on Kokichi's face quickly becomes a blank slate, and his voice monotone. "And why would you do that?"

His next words makes Kokichi's world spin.

"Wouldn't it be better if I get executed?"

There's a small pause, and they've already long since stopped paying attention to the trial.

". . ." He already had a feeling at the reason why. 

The astronaut keeps talking, taking his silence as a moment to continue.

"You know, since if you think about it, this trial in general is just a big 'Fuck You' to Monokuma. . . But image what it would be like if I die-"

"It's because you want a better death, _isn't it_?" he snarls out and interrupting him, his tone hostile and causing the other boy's eyes to widen.

"W-What? That's-"

"Oh please. You just want to die a _hero_." he says the word bitterly. "So what if you died by the execution? Either way, you die. And what would your _sidekicks_ think, huh? I'd image they'd care that you're dying, ya know." Kaito stares, astonished by his reaction.

He doesn't get a chance to continue his rant when he hears Maki say his name, and turns away, silently cursing the other boy for distracting him.

"Monokuma, hurry up and bring Kokichi here. We already know who the victim is." the assassin snaps, and he can imagine her eyes blazing with malice.

"Huh? Already? You sure it's not too soon?" the bear's childish voice says all too innocently. Kokichi can even imagine him bringing a paw to his mouth.

He hears Kiibo speak up. "We need the suspect now that he's the subject of our discussion."

"Gotcha. I guess I'll bring him out now." he hears the bear sigh, but his next words are much more energetic. "Alrighty mister suspect, that's your cue!" Monokuma shouts dramatically.

Suddenly, the room they're in becomes bright, and Kokichi's about to move the exisal when Kaito beats him. Remembering their earlier conversation, he pulls his arms away.

_"Do you trust me?"_

Kaito rests his hands on the exisal, and within a few seconds, the exisal jumps out of the room and next to Kaito's podium, and they both come face to face with everyone else, and his eyes are automatically drawn to Shuichi before he looks away. Kokichi eyes Kaito warily at what was he was doing, but doesn't do anything to stop it, lest the resulting struggle gets overheard. 

"An exisal!?" Shuichi exclaims.

"W-What!? Why is an exisal here!?" Himiko stutters.

Kaito unclicks the microphone after pressing on the button that'll allow him to speak in his voice. He leans in and speaks, and Kokichi watches impassively at the resulting action.

_"Haha, whoops! My bad. Seems like I gave you guys a scare, huh?"_

All of them became tense, and their bodies still at the sound of Kaito's voice echoing around the courtroom.

Kiibo gasps. "Is that . . . Kaito!?"

". . . Kaito?" Maki whispers, and Kokichi sees Kaito's eyes immediately darts his eyes over to her, before just as quickly looking away.

_"There was a lot going on, so I just hopped in an exisal and kinda dozed off."_ Not for the first, Kokichi's reminded that the astronaut could lie just as well as him. _"Haha, and that's why I'm so late! Anyways, what's goin' on guys?"_

(Having an incurable disease that you wanted no one to know of could do that to you, he supposed.)

Tsumugi suddenly speaks up, shocked. "K-Kaito!? You're alive? Doesn't that mean Koki-"

Right before she finished the sentence, the astronaut speaks into the microphone again, after pressing another button.

_"Stuuupid! That was a lie!"_ Kokichi's voice blares out, causing everyone to give a small flinch at once. He smashes the buttons, and they go jumping again once more, landing with a _thud_ , this time to Kokichi's podium.

Kaito smirks as he leans back, and Kokichi stares at him for a second, his face blank, before reaching towards the microphone and speaking.

_"Nishishish~ Oh man, you guys really thought I died? Didja really think the game would be continuing if I was dead"_ he taunts, bringing up the false fact about him being the mastermind. As if at once, they all react.

"K-Kokichi!?" Kiibo shouts, looking all but dismayed at the turnabout.

_"I'm gonna live till I die! I'm gonna laugh 'stead of cry!"_ he recites the lyrics of a song he remembered during his times of living in the orphanage, ignoring the astronaut's strange look.

"Wow, that's old! How old are you?" Himiko says, knowing of the song he was singing.

"I thought as much. . . Your appearance right now is fit for a lowly asshole like you." Maki snaps at him, but instead of making him angry, he smirks, snickering.

_"Nishishish~ You're making me blush! You're getting so angry over me."_

"Of course we're angry at you!" Himiko says, getting back to the main topic and defending Maki at the same time "We're here because you killed Kaito" she argues.

It was truly interesting at how quickly a conservation could change.

_"What?! I would never do such a thing! Are you sure you're not the one to kill him?!"_ he defends himself, getting a "Nyeh!?" in return, and feels a disappointed gaze at the back of his neck, to which he smirks to.

Even though he's speaking to Himiko, his eyes are drawn to a certain's detective face, expectant, watching the way his eyes are drawn into a frown. It's not long before Kaito's staring at him as well, knowing what was to come.

His feminine voice is soft, and everyone else immediately quiets down when he speaks. ". . . Is that really you Kokichi?"

He immediately replies. _"That's right Cracker Jack!"_ he mutes himself right after, awaiting their reactions.

"Seriously, how old are you?" Himiko says, a small bead of sweat going down her face.

Maki's sharp voice makes him draw his eyes away from Shuichi and towards her. "Then why are you hiding? Show us your face." she snaps.

She looks ready to attack the exisal right there and then, and not for the first time, he's reminded of the way she forcibly lifts him off the ground and wraps her hands around his neck.

Thankfully, Himiko pops the question they were all thinking. "Nyeh! If you're here, then that means you killed Kaito!"

"No. We can't jump to conclusions. It's too soon to decide anything yet. While the role of victim is limited to Kaito and Kokichi, we can't say the same for the blackened." Shuichi says, causing everyone to look at each other in alarm.

Well, what most of them were thinking of, at least. There was a reason why he favored the detective, and it wasn't just because of his looks. He also mentally applauded Shuichi, noting how he didn't believe it (yet) how Kaito was the victim.

"My sidekick's totally got this." Kaito boasts, and he becomes annoyed (but silently agrees as well) due to the fact that if he hadn't muted the exisal, the astronaut's voice would have been heard by all, and he glares at him, to which he gets a sheepish look in return.

He unmutes the mic, shooting another glare at him, and speaks. _"I'm hiding in here for self-dense, really. Little miss assassin might kill me here, otherwise."_

". . ." The murderous glare she shoots at the exisal helps confirm it, and not for once he's glad he's in it (Even if he had to be stuck with an idiot. . .).

_"Well anyways,"_ he decides to change the topic, noting the taller boy's curious look at him, to which he smirks at. 

_"I understand how you guys, for **some** apparent reason, might not believe that your's truly is not actualy in here!" _he makes sure to direct the statement at Shuichi, who just scrunches his eyebrows in confusion.

_"Sooo, that's why I brought evidence! Nishishish~"_ he quickly jabs Kaito's side with his elbow, who lets out a muffled grunt, which thankfully no one hears.

". . .Evidence?" Kiibo asks, bewildered,

Watching the other boy look at him in confusion, he rolls his eyes before gesturing to the controls. The taller boy's expression then lights up, and he reaches over, and within a few seconds, the exisal is holding up the camcorder they had used before.

_"Tadaaa! The video camera! It used to be in the warehouse, but I brought it to the hanger just in case."_

Kokichi lets out a sigh directly in front of the microphone, which was clearly conveyed through the exisal. _"Man, that was a smart move!"_ he praises himself, watching Kaito roll his eyes.

_"Thanks to this, I filmed it so everyone could see it clearly! It's tootally important!"_

He sees Shuichi give the camera a wary look. "And what is it exactly?"

_"Why'd I thought you'd never ask!"_ he says cheerfully, contrasting with the morbid statement he was about to say. " _It's the moment your beloved Kaito **died** , after all!" _

He and Kaito exchange looks with each other as all chaos breaks loose.

"Nyeh!? Wh-What did you say!?" Himiko gasps.

"W-What!? This can't be!" Kiibo shouts in disbelief.

"O-Oh my! What!?" Tsumugi says, her eyes widened.

". . . _what_ did you say?" Maki's eyes were instead narrowed, and her voice is threatening and tone malicious. 

He lets out a gleeful sounding cackle, noting to himself how Shuichi had stayed quiet and looked unsure. _"Alrighty then! Let's watch this shocking moment!"_

He put a hand to his chin in thought, ignoring Kaito's expectant look. They had no way to show everyone the video easily, unless they just passed it around to everyone, but it would take too much time. He also couldn't risk the chance of someone breaking it in shock (or anger) after watching it. An idea suddenly occured to him.

_"Heey Monokuma! Can you connect this video camera to the monitor?"_ Perfect. The best way to show everyone while not taking up too much time.

The bear saluted, hopping off of his throne. "Roger that!"

Monokuma waddled over to them, to which Kaito controlled the exisal to lower the camera cautiously, lest he be the one to break it. Grabbing the camera, the bear went back to his throne, plugging in the camera to a plug that wasn't there before. After hooking it up, he began to play the video, and Kokichi muted the exisal.

Watching Kaito "die" again was not pleasant, even though he was basically sitting on the taller boy's leg. Watching it descend reminded Kokichi of how he was originally supposed to be the one under the press.

". . . Oh." the astronaut looked sickened at the footage, making Kokichi glad he had muted the exisal. He didn't taunt the the other boy either, and having no desire of watching it again, he looked at the other students, noticing how they all collectively flinched with Maki's and Shuichi's being the most obvious, while he himself ignored the pink splatter of blood.

There was a silence when the video stopped, and this time Shuichi was the first person to speak up from the shock of one of his best friend's 'death'.

"Huh. . ?" The detective muttered, dismayed, his fist clenched, and looked downwards. ". . . Kaito. . ."

"Th-This is terrible! Wh-Why would you record something like this!?" Tsumugi stuttered, astonished.

". . ." Maki faced away, her eyes clenched and face regretful, to which Kaito had hissed at, making a pain-filled sound at his sidekicks in despair.

"I-I saw it through my fingers. . . the moment. . . Kaito was crushed. . ." Himiko sniffled, tears coming out of her eyes. It was true, the magician had covered her eyes, letting out an "Eep!" when he had gotten 'crushed'. "I'm gonna . . ." she then covered her mouth, letting out a 'huurk!', looking like she was about to vomit.

Watching their reactions with his face still blank, he visibly unmuted the exisal, making it obvious to the only other occupant so that he didn't say anything, and spoke, his voice as equally monotone as his face.

_"By the way, I'd like to add that this footage has not been doctored in any way. This video camera only has the basic options, just the play, pause, and record buttons, so you can't edit after filming it."_

He nudges the taller boy again, who understands quickly and makes the exisal raise his arms dramatically, his voice losing the monotone and becoming cheerful in no time once more. _"And of course, I didn't upload it to a computer to edit either. Riiight, Monokuma?"_

". . ." He grins viciously at the bear's silence. _"Oh, you can talk. Your answer is necessary for a fair discussion, after all."_ The bear pipes up, as if he had been granted permission.

"I see! If it's necessary for a fair discussion, then I will answer. No trace of that footage was found on any of the computers inside the academy."

He smiles. _"See? If it wasn't connected to any computer, then editing the footage would be impossible."_ he smirks, the lie on the tip of his toungue. _"Which means, the footage ie 100% real!"_

Kokichi mutes it again, and the smile on his face disappears, replaced by a blank face as he stares at the astronaut intensely.

He hears Kiibo speak up in the background, saying how he was the blackened, but he's too busy thinking about the taller boy's earlier words.

". . . Are you sure?"

The taller boy straightens up, and looks at him. "What are you talking about?" he's frowning again.

"Don't tell me that you forget that you were going to tell me that you wanted to die, did you?"

It's times like this Kokichi's reminded of the way he acts like a child, but was never as naive as one. 

". . ." he turns away when the other boy chooses to not reply, scowling, and faces the courtroom in time to hear Himiko speak.

"Poor Kaito. . . I can't believe he died such a horrible death. . ." she covers her mouth again, and he stares stoically, knowing that only Kaito could see him. "I can't believe he died with his guts and his brains splattered all over that machine!"

He ignores the small voice telling him it should've been him.

"S-Stop it. . . Now I'm starting to not feel well. . ." Tsumugi stutters, appearing to turn a light shade of green.

"That's probably cuz I used my magic to transfer all my barf over to you." the magician says.

Tsumugi furrows her eyebrows. "I know that's a joke, but the thought of it. . ." Kokichi rolls his eyes at the small talk and unmutes the exisal in order to speed up the trial.

_"Nishishish~ It looks like you finally believe that I'm the one in this exisal!"_

"Yes. With that, we can definitively say that the culprit is. . . you." Kiibo says, directing the statement at their direction.

_"Huh? Why?"_ he says innocently, waiting to see where he was going with this.

"You filmed the moment the victim died, which means you were present at the scene. . ." the robot explains. "As the person who filmed this footage, your the only one who coud be the culprit!"

"But if the culprit shot the video, why would they go out of their way to show it-" Shuichi starts to argue, and Kokichi quickly interupts him so that he didn't attempt to convince them (Yet, at least).

_"Aw maan, ya got me. Yeah I'm the cuplrit."_ No time to beat around the bush. Plus, the shocked looks he recieved was worth it, even with the astronaut giving him a 'what the heck' look.

_"Geez, I totally dug my own grave!"_ he says, sighing dramatically as well. _"Here's the truth- I decided to participate in this trial in an exisal after I killed Kaito."_

It's amusing how they all look at him suspiciously, not being able to trust his words.

_"Of course, it was mostly to make the victim unknown, to jazz up this trial! I took that footage for proof, so I could reveal it after you guys gets the correct answer."_ he pauses to clear his throat, which went unheard over the microphone.

_"But. . . Nishishish~ I toootally spaced out! I wasn't supposed to show it right away!"_ It's amusing how they believed such a simple lie. Well, at least most of them, with Shuichi being the one exception by the way his eyebrows scrunch in thought.

"So does that mean. . . you admit to the crime?" Tsumugi asks, unsure.

_". . ."_ he stays silent, looking at Kaito's similar purple eyes before looking away, and then proceeds to exaggerate his next words. _"Oh, man! I dug my own grave again!?_ _Well, I don't think you guys will believe any of the excuses I make now. . ."_ Kokichi sighed dramatically.

_"So. . . I give up!"_ he'd actually face palm if any of them believed that, but then again, they ended up believed him when he said Gonta was the culprit. Heavens forbid what it would be like if he'd actually decided to murder somebody.

"You're giving up? Does. . . that mean it's been decided?" Himiko says relunctantly, tilting her hat so that it partially covers his eyes.

Tsumugi sweats. "Is it okay for a trial to be so short?" Kokichi narrows his eyes at her suspiciously. He'd probably shouldn't worry too much about how she was worried about the length of the trial then if he was the culprit, but he'd take note of it.

"That's fine. We knew from the very start that Kokichi was the killer." Maki says, speaking up after a long silence, so he trains his eyes on her.

"But before we vote, I want to say something to Kokichi. . ." he stares at her, unblinkingly, while she glares at him, and he feels Kaito's sigh at this, and flinches, almost forgetting the boy was ever there due to how quiet he'd been, or at least he might have if he couldn't feel the other boy breathing due to how close they were to one another.

"You may be the mastermind, but I won't let you escape after you violated the rules." Maki threatens, and continues speaking. "That would desecrate the kiling game Junko Enoshima created, right. . .? Your _beloved_ Junko Enoshima."

Kokichi furrows eyebrows, not recognizing the name, and after exchanging glances with Kaito, it appeared he didn't either.

The only times when he used 'beloved' was when he was saying it to Rantaro and Shuichi, not whoever the hell this Junko was. 

". . . Junko . . . ?" accidentally escapes his lips, so he mutes the exisal and faces Kaito, frustrated, and sighs. "So I'm gonna guess that you have no ideas about who she is?"

The taller boy slouches, leaning against the metals walls surrounding them. "Nope."

Kokichi groaned loudly, following the astronaut's example and slouches as well. "Well, the infomation probably came from somewhere else. Probably a flashback light too, so she's probably someone the mastermind made up." he calculates to himself, gets a simple 'huh?' in return. He rolls his eyes, simplifying his explanation.

"Mastermind's probably not happy with us. They make flashback light. Maki sees it, then she attacks me. Sound familiar?" There's a saracastic tone to it, and Kaito rolls his eyes, about the speak.

"But what if-"

"Whatever! It's voting time now, lets go before Kokichi changes his-" Himiko shouts, cutting off the astronaut and startling the occupants of the exisal, right before a certain detective speaks up once more.

"No, hold on a second! This isn't right!" Shuichi shouts out loud, and not for once, he curses the other boys unpredictableness at how close they were.

"The culprit comes in, confesses to the crime, and the trial ends!?" Kokichi huffed at this and partially speaks to the taller boy, who lets out a snort at what he has to say. "Drats, foiled again." 

"Thats not how this goes!" Shuichi continues on, oblivious to Kokichi's remark. "That doesn't sound like the game Kokichi or Monokuma or Junko would play!"

Kokichi huffed again. Junko. There was that name again. Apparently she was in a killing game? And was the mastermind? Huh.

"What if the mastermind got tired of it? The Remants of Despair were like that- " Tsumugi brings up only to be brought down by Shuichi.

"No, if they were tired of it, they wouldn't have put all that effort into the video. There would been no need for this class trial in the first place." Shuichi declared. Meanwhile, Kokichi could only think about who these 'Remnants of Despair' they were talking about.

"Something not right. We need to get a better feel for this situation. I think. . . Kokichi has some sort of plan. Hes trying to trap us." Kokichi pretended to wipe a tear from his eye and sniffled.

"My beloved Shumai knows me so well~" This time, Kaito's the one to roll his eyes.

"Trap us? Are you saying Kokichi isn't the culprit?" Maki questions the detective, her gaze on him. "Then, are you suggesting one of us is the culprit?"

"If it's not Kokichi, then the culprit must be one of us. . ." Kiibo says, looking upset.

"One of us?" Himiko asks, her lips trembling.

"That's not possible!" Tsumugi denies, seemingly set on Kokichi being the culprit.

Shuichi starts to sweat. "No, I didn't say that! I was just saying it's dangerous to trust Kokichi-"

Kokichi unmutes the microphone, interrupting him. _"Nishishish~ Shuichi is so distrusting. . ._ _But it's exaactly like Shuichi said! I'm actually nooot the cuplrit!"_ Kaito gives him look as everyone in the courtroom starts mumbling to each other.

"Wh-What? But that contradicts what you said previously." Kiibo speaks up.

" _Yuppers, that was a lie. Sorry! I lied again."_ Kokichi apologizes cheerfully. _"The real culprit of this case is super bad at hiding themselves, so I thought I could help. . ."_ Kokichi trails off, and Maki glares at him, catching his drift and knowing that he was speaking about her.

_"I pretended to be the culprit by using the footage! It made the game much more interesting, too!"_ he says, playing up the mastermind persona, which he sees Kaito frowning at in the corner of his eyes, but doesn't focus on it, too invested in speaking in the microphone.

(He also can't help but to remind himself he had a killing game to end. It's what makes him keep acting as the mastermind, really, and going in a way)

"A-Are you serious?" Tsumugi stuttered once more, overwhelmed.

_"Totally~!"_ he lied, and then proceeded to mute the microphone so that the astronaut and him could speak to each other.

"Nyeeeh! Whats the truth and whats a lie!? I don't know anymore!" Himiko shouted, waving her arm around. Unknown to her, he silently swallowed his throat at her words and darted his eyes away from her, trying to pretend that he didn't know either.

"It's fine though. . . because Kokichi is the culprit." Maki said, her sharp voice cutting through the courtroom and causing everyone to turn to her. "He killed Kaito. . . No matter how much he decieves us, it won't change our minds."

Kokichi looked at his fingernails, seemingly bored. "I mean, she's not wrong." (Kaito _was_ going to die after all, wasn't he?)

Kaito seemed too intent on his sidekick's words and ignored him, causing Kokichi to give a small huff, having already predicting that she would had say that.

"The footage shows he did it! Kokichi has to be the culprit!" Maki argued. "There's no doubt!"

"What a horrible video." Tsumugi mumbled to herself

"There's only one person that could have record that video." Kiibo stated. "And that's. . ."

Maki finished the sentence! speaking over him. "Kokichi Ouma, the mastermind of this killing game." she grit her teeth. "And Kaito's killer."

Kokichi rolled his eyes. "Ya know, I'm not the only one. For all they knew, it could've been you." he pointed out.

Kaito rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but they _don't_ know."

"Kaito got crushed. Alive." Himiko said, giving a small sniffle. Suddenly Shuichi perked up, and Kokichi turned to him, recognizing when he figured something out, already knowing of the contradiction he was about to speak of.

"Wait a minute, that can't be!" Eyes turned to the blue-haired teenager. "The safety function make that impossible!"

"Safety functions?" Tsumugi voiced out, repeating his words.

"That's right." Kiibo confirmed. "There's saftey precautions on the press that stops if detects a living organism!"

Shuichi continued on. "Which is why it couldn't have been used to killed Kaito."

Kokichi gave a small humm of agreement, which Kaito had gave a somewhat fist pump to himself in victory. "I knew my sidekick could do it." he boasted.

". . ." Throughout all of this, Maki had stayed quiet, seemingly in thought.

"It was more likely that Kaito killed by somthing else." Kiibo said thoughtfully.

"But what about the electrobomb?" Tsumugi wondered.

Shuichi shook his head, already bringing the statement down. "No, it's more likely not. If he did, it would be for another purpose, since it would bring down the hangar alarm and remote control." 

"It would be a significant disadvantage for Kokichi." Kiibo agreed.

Kokichi and Kaito gave a look to each other. "I mean he's not exactly wrong." Kokichi said, unintentionally almost repeating his previous words once more, and then unclicked the microphone and leaned into it.

_"But you can't be too sure I would do that."_ Heads turned to the exisal. _"After all, I am the type who would do anything for fun!"_ Kokichi said right before muting the exisal.

Now, just replace 'fun' with 'to win' and he'd be all set.

Meanwhile, Kaito had rolled his eyes at his words. "It's like you want them to know." he grumbled.

"There's no other evidence that he'd have died before being crushed." Maki piped up, her tone leaving no room for explanations. Unfortunately for her, Shuichi had one.

"But there's something that goes against that." he'd argued. "The blood trial that goes from the bathroom to the press. And the blood in bathroom? That can't be a coincidence." Shuichi concluded.

Kokichi frowned, trying to visualize the image in his head. "Weren't you coughing in the restroom?"

Kaito blinked before furrowing his eyebrows in thought. "Huh. I was. Although, the blood might've been from when we were taking the arrows out."

"No, we did that outside of the restroom." Kokichi disagreed before snickering to himself. "Aw man, it actually _was_ a coincidence." Kaito gave a snort to this as well, despite the circumstances that led to it. 

(It was good to laugh once in awhile, after all. It's how it helps him ~~live~~ function)

Himiko had spoken up. "So Kaito was killed in the restroom, and then dragged to press and crushed?"

"We have no way of knowing, however. Since the body was crushed, we don't how he died." Maki pointed out.

"What about the hole in Kaito's sleeve?" Shuichi said thoughtfully. "It had to be caused from something."

Kaito blinked. "That's why you had me put my jacket like that?" Kokichi made a noise of agreement, eyes trained on Himiko, who had noticably paled, probably due to her role in the events, which caused Kaito to turn to her as well.

"T-That's not right!" the magician had stuttered. "I-I'll hit y-you with my _Everything You Buy will go on Sale the Next Day_ curse!" Kokichi gave a small snort at this and Kaito hit him in the back of his head (gently, however), which he gave a small pout at.

Tsumugi looked concerned and directed her sentence at the magician. "Himiko, are you alright?"

"T-Totally! Never been better." Himiko gave a nervous laugh at the end.

"Subtle." Kokichi said.

The magician gave a small cough. "B-Besides! It's impossible for a weapon to be that small!" she said hurriedly.

Shuichi frowned. "But we found a crossbow in the bathroom?"

Himiko blinked, small beads of sweat going down her face in a comicial manner. "Oh."

Thankfully, Kiibo decided to step in for her. "The crossbow I believe was from the Ultimate Assassin's lab, and should be Kaito's murder weapon." he concluded.

Kokichi frowned. "All they know is that you were shot in the arm." he stroked his chin. "And they don't know about the poison. How exactly would that kill you?"

The astronaut shrugged, and he felt the action due to their limited space. "How am I supposed to know?"

Himiko gave a small gulp. "Oh, what a surprise!"

Tsumugi eyes her again, worried. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Kokichi decided to speak up, feeling pity for the magician and her attempts to hide what she had done, and unclicked the microphone.

_"She just probably needs to pee."_ he fibbed. _"Oh, and about that crossbow? I wonder who shot it~"_ Kaito glared at him, and he gave an innocent smile, also feeling the red-eyed assasin's gaze on him despite not facing her.

The cosplayer frowned. "He's playing with us. . ."

Kiibo spoke up, his eyes blazing with an unfamiliar intensity (he'd later identified it as determination; who knew the robot had it in him?).

"Then lets show him that playtime is over. . . and that the students of Hope's Peak Academy will never submit to despair!"

_"Hope. . .? Despair. . . .?"_ Kaito had muttered right before Kokichi had muted the exisal, and when he did, he glared at the taller boy, who'd just gave a sheepish look in return.

He sighed, not knowing of what the robot was speaking about either and found himself frustrated with it.

"The next time someone mentions something about hope or despair or whatever, I am going to hit somthing." Kaito said dramatically, and what exactly did the idiot think he was going to do?

"How despairful." he deadpanned, getting slapped in the back of his head in the process, an 'ow' leaving his lips. "I did warn you." the astronaut replied cheekfully, to which Kokichi narrowed his eyes at. It was one thing for him to predict what was going to happen next, but for Kaito too? Even with a seemingly harmless gesture, he kept note of this, and turned away just in time to here Shuichi speak.

"-need to be fired from inside the hangar?" Kiibo said, right before Shuichi answered.

"But what if someone fired the crossbow from _outside_ the hangar? Or, more specifically, the bathroom window?" the detective said.

Tsumugi looked deep in thought. "That could be possible." she mused.

"Nyeh. . ." Meanwhile, Himiko grew even paler, so Kokichi decided to step in once more, unmuting the exisal visibly.

_"Oh, he just might've been shot! I, myself, was there."_ he said, not lying for once. _"Buuut I won't tell you who it was, since that'll ruin the surprise and just be boring!"_ he teased.

_"And the bathroom window you say? Well in that case, I guess that I'm not the only suspect now!"_ Kokichi felt glee at the chaos he had caused, which was shown clearly on his face for the only other occupant to see. As if at once, everyone's face had contorted into an alarmed or panicked expression.

"But. . that means. . ." Tsumugi's lip trembled and her voice shook.

Shuichi looked grave. "That everyone is a suspect." he finished the sentence for her. However, unfortunately for him, someone was opposed to this.

"It seems that Shuchi wants to make one of us the culprit, is that it?" Maki said, her steady voice loud and clear for everyone to hear, cutting through the courtroom, a silence following right after. ". . . Is that what a detective does?"

Everyone's eyes had more or less widened, and Kaito looked pained at the accusation she had given to the detective. Kokichi himself just hardened his gaze on her and grit his teeth, the glee he had previous felt was gone now.

Maki continued on, looking stoically at Shuichi, who's mouth was in a small 'o'. "Do detectives always accuse people, even they're friends?" she scowled. "Seems like it. You even accused Kaito last trial. You always accuse your friends."

Personally, Kokichi himself thought she had no reason to let out her anger at the detective, although he couldn't fault her exactly for it. She'd believed that the closest person she had been to had died, and if Kokichi wasn't to be blamed, who was?

Shuich looked heartbroken at the assssin. "I-I. . Maki. . ." he looked away regrettably, clenching his eyes shut and unable to speak.

"Are you okay Maki? It seems like your on the edge. . ." Tsumugi spoke up, flinching when she leveled her gaze on the cosplayer.

"That's because I am." Maki said simply. "When we agreed to stop the Remnants of Despair, there was _someone_ in our way." he twitched his eye, feeling irritated at the fact that he _still_ didn't know what she was speaking about, but then narrowed his eyes at her, realizing just _who_ exactly she was speaking of. It seemed that Kaito had realized too, and was nervously shifting around.

He prepared himself right before the assasin had turned around to look at the exisal, but still swallowed his throat at her next words, her piercing red eyes glaring at him viciously, filled with a deep, hateful malice. The atmosphere was tense enought to cut with a knife.

"Oh? And Kokichi?" a dark look covered her face, and her voice was steady. "I _will_ get rid of you." Kokichi couldn't fault her either, and stared at her red eyes, determination etched in her face.

"Whatever it takes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep telling myself not to put this off, and what do I do? ;-; I'M GONNA UPDATE I SWEARRRRRRR 
> 
> (There's also the fact that I apparently can't stop writing and made this chapter super long at 10,000 words compared to the 5,000 of the previoud chapter??? RIP)
> 
> *cries* Ahem, anyways, hope you enjoy and leave some kudos or a comment!


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